Hello. I'm Jan from Mrs. Lake's class. My class wants to work together to help the public. We think we have found a great way to do this. Last month we did a class project on the highways near our town. We learned about the Adopt-a-Highway Program. This program brings people together to pick up litter along the roads. We think it would be a great idea for all students in our school to join the program and adopt（收养） a highway.

    Adopting a highway is not like adopting a pet. When a highway is adopted, only part of the highway is cared for by a group of people. The group agrees to work every week to keep its part of the highway clean. Each group gets its own sign that has the name of the group printed on it. The sign is put up at the side of the road . This sign lets drivers know who is keeping that area of the road clean.

The Adopt-a-Highway Program is a great way for people to help their environment look nicer. Also, the government does not have to send out as many road workers. This saves money. Finally, people may try harder to keep roads clean if they see people, especially teenagers like us, cleaning them up.

     We will need helpers to care for our adopted highway. If you want to feel great and keep our roads clean，please come with your parents to the meeting next week. We will meet in Mrs. Lake's room on Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. At the meeting, we will talk about which roads are the dirtiest as a result of people's unkind acts. Then we'll try to pick an area to adopt and clean.

    I look forward to seeing you at the meeting. Remember to keep our roads clean!

Welcome to the North Pole Adventure

    The North Pole Adventure is a one-of-a-kind interactive Christmas attraction for the entire family. Unlike other Christmas attractions, it is open from November 25 until Christmas Eve. It is not a guided tour. While elves (小精灵) are throughout the adventure to interact with your children, your kids can spend as much time in each area as they wish. The adventure features a replica(复制品) of the North Pole including everything you imagine at Santa's North Pole.

Santa's House

    Kids will experience what it's like at the North Pole and see first-hand what it takes for Santa and his elves to get ready for Christmas each year. The memories your children will take away from Santa's House will be ones they will remember for a life time.

Post Office

    All kids will be assisted by Santa's elves in writing a letter to Santa and then depositing it in Santa's magical mailbox. A few days before Christmas, they will receive letters at their own homes from Santa.

Elf University

    Elf University is the place where elves go to school. It's also the place where kids enjoy making Christmas presents, coloring Christmas pictures, and even filling out applications to become elves one day.

Admission：

    Buy your tickets online to avoid waiting in line. If the tickets sell out when you buy them online, there will still be tickets available at the ticket office.

    It was when I was walking to my office, trailed by three young people whose ages ranged from 16 to 25, flowing down the corridor behind me like the tail of a kite, that I thought of it for the first time.

    This could be because I am not actually a mother. Until recently, I was not a "real" stepmother either. But I have been living with the man who is now my husband, Bernardo for 10 years and in those 10 years, not only have his younger daughters spent every other weekend and half of their school holiday with us but also his son has lived with us full-time. In fact, when Bernardo asked me to move in, he asked his son for permission first.

    Being a step mum is hard enough but being a sort-of-step-mother is about the most awkward position a mature woman can find herself in. With my sort-of-steppies, I have occupied a place of influence, power and sometimes extreme anger by turns. I have stepped on a delicate path between being a grown-up friend, a bridge of influence with their father, the woman of the house, and a figure of authority – but not too much.

    Love the kids or hate them, you must always remember that no matter how much you cook, clean, hug, comfort and discipline, you will never actually count.

    To survive, I trained myself to love the stepkids as hard as I could, but not to care. It's a handy piece of good mental health trickery I recommend to anyone in my position. I can help with homework, yes, but not bother about the results of that homework. I can teach them good manners, but not care about the bad habits they learn at home. Semi-detached is the position.

    "Are you going to Seattle?" an anxious-looking woman asked a female traveler at the Amtrak Airport in Sacramento. "No, I'm going to Eugene," the traveler replied. "Oh, I was hoping you could watch out for my daughter, she's never been on a plane before."

    Now, as I am quite a seasoned plane traveler, I know that seats and cars are supplied by destination（目的地）. So I came up to the woman and her frightened-looking daughter, telling them that her daughter could sit with me and that I would take care of her during the journey.

    The plane had arrived 25 minutes late, and people walked in line to get their seats. The conductor wanted to know if there were people traveling together, so I went to the front of the line with the girl and we were arranged to sit next to each other. Once on board, I showed her where to put her package, and took her to the bathroom area. Then we settled down to sleep. In the morning, I showed her the dining room and bought her a drink. She became comfortable enough to do what most 15-year-olds do: talk and text on her mobile phone.

    All through the trip, I made sure she picked up her ID, which had fallen out of her backpack, some money, which had fallen into the crack （缝隙） of the reclining seat, and continuously kept an eye on her. I hope someone takes her under their wing when she flies back to Sacramento.

    I do hope that kindness will spread around the world through these ways. We're conditioned to think that our lives go on with great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware, beautifully wrapped（包裹）in what others may consider a small one.

    Scientists in New Zealand have found fossilized (化石的) leg bones from a penguin believed to have been about the size of an adult human. The previously undiscovered giant penguin species likely stood about 1.6 meters tall and weighed up to 80 kilograms.

    The penguin existed about 60 million years ago. The bones are believed to be from the oldest of several species of giant penguins that lived after dinosaurs died out. A fossil hunter found the bones last year in the Waipara River bed near the city of Christchurch. The bones are from the animal's legs and feet. Scientists confirmed that the bones came from a newly discovered species.

    Paul Scofield is senior curator (馆长) at New Zealand's Canterbury Museum. He co-wrote a paper on the discovery. He said that the bones are an important find. They show that the species is similar to another giant penguin found in Antarctica in 2000. The latest discovery, he said, helps show a clear connection between the two areas during the Paleocene period. This period lasted from 66 million to 56 million years ago.

    Scofield said the penguins were able to grow larger after entering a new development period following the extinction of dinosaurs, sea reptiles and huge fish. Scofield added that the giant penguins became extinct within 30 million years, as large mammals began to rule the waters.

    John Cockrem is a penguin expert at the country's Massey University who was also not involved in the research. He said the discovery helps add to what we know about giant penguins. He said it also confirmed New Zealand as the penguin center of the world.

    New Zealand is believed to have been home to many giant bird species that later disappeared. These included the world's largest parrot, a giant eagle and an emu-like bird called the moa. Recently, Canterbury Museum announced the discovery of an unusually large parrot believed to have lived about 19 million years ago. Scientists say the bird stood about one meter tall.

Are you a moviegoer? If, like me, you're a fan of film, then there's no better place to watch something than on the big screen at the cinema. You enter the dark theatre and take your seat, ready to be entertained. But while you are absorbed in some movie magic, many others are now getting their film fixed at home.

Over the last few years, cinemas have seen a comeback. Customers have been attracted by comfortable seats, and lots of choice of things to watch. Multiplexes in particular can screen up to twenty films at the same time, suiting all different tastes. In addition, 3D and even 4D movies can give the audience an extra immersive experience. So what's not to like about a trip to the cinema?

The coronavirus pandemic has put the future of cinema under the spotlight. Some have had to close because of reduced ticket sales. In the UK, it's brought about a surge in TV watching and online streaming. It's reported that half of UK adults will keep and continue using their new streaming subscriptions.

This isn't great news for cinemas. They rely on the release of a big blockbuster to bring the crowds back, but the launch of new films, such as James Bond: No Time To Die, are being delayed. Disney has released its $200m blockbuster, Mulan, online instead of in movie theatres. John Fithian, from the National Association of Theatre Owners, told Variety magazine: This idea of waiting out the pandemic to make your movies more profitable doesn't make sense to me. There won't be as much of an industry left to play your movies in if you do that. "